richardson



(No Model.)

M. A. & R. L. RICHARDSON.

BABY WALKER.

No. 417,839. Patented Dec. 24, 1.889.

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provided with casters.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILO A. RICHARDSON AND ROSELL L. RICHARDSON, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

BABY-WALKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,839, dated December 24, 1889.

Application filed September 23, 1889. Serial No. 324,729. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MILO A. RICHARDSON and ROSELL L. RICHARDSON, both citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baby-Tenders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of baby tenders or jumpers wherein a seat for the baby is flexibly suspended from a body-ring, which is carried on a light base or standard Such devices are adapted to be pushed around the room by the baby in its efforts to walk.

The object of our invention is to provide a baby-tender wherein the baby shall have more opportunity for exercise and amusement than in those heretofore known, and wherein the baby will be protected from violent shocks resulting from collisions of the baby-tender with objects about the room or other place where it is used, and also to construct the baby-tender so that .it will be lighter and more easily manipulated by the infant, while possessing a greater degree of safety than has been heretofore attained.

To this end in carrying out our invention We construct the base of the baby-tender with a horizontally-projecting elastic guard for receiving the force of collisions and for preventing the overturning of the device. Over this basewe mount a rigid body-ring, and from this ring we suspend the seat for the baby by means of flexible elastic suspenders.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is aperspective View of a baby-tender. Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan thereof.

Referring to the drawings, letA represent the supporting-base, B the body-ring, and O the seat for the baby. The base A is constructed, preferably, of two lateral rungs a a, connected together through the medium of a hoop or guard or guard-ring D, which is secured to their outer ends. The ring D is constructed of light elastic material and is arranged in close proximity to the floor, extending in a horizontal plane around the base of the device. The body-ring B is preferably a wooden ring having an aperture sufliciently large to freely admit the body of the child. This ring B is rigidly secured to the base by means, preferably,of light braces or legs I) Z), secured to the ring 13, and projecting downward therefrom diagonally and entering the rungs a a of the base. The legs I) b are constructed to rigidly connect the base and ring B, so that there can be no relative movement between these two sections of the baby-tender.

A seat 0 for the baby is suspended below the aperture in the body-ring B, and is connected to the ring B by means of flexible suspenders cc, (three being used by preference.) The suspenders c o are elastic, and are preferably constructed so that the height of the seat C relatively to the body-ring B can be adjusted. This we prefer to accomplish by constructing the suspenders c c of springs 61 d, provided with hooks at their lower extremities. Straps e e are preferably secured to the seat O, and are hooked over the extremities of the springs (Z cl. By means of perforations in the straps the height of the seat can be adjusted at will. Any other suitable connection between the seatO and the body-ring B which will flexibly and elastically suspend the seat from the body-ring B may be used instead of the connection 0 0 shown.

E is a shelf SGCLllGd to the front of the bodyring B, to be used by the baby as a table on which to place its toys.

The seat C may be constructed of any desired shape; but we prefer to construct it with recesses f f for the childs limbs and a central forwardly-projecting horn g to prevent the child from escaping and slipping down onto the floor in front of the seat. This construction of seat is well known. The bodyring B and seat 0 are located eccentrically of the base A, so that the center of the ring is mounted at a point considerably to the rear of the center of the base. This is desirable, as the child in using the baby-tender as a walker tends to propel it forward more rapidly than in any other direction, and the child also leans forward over the body-ring 13 while so propelling the device, so thata sudden stoppage of the baby-tender while the child is leaning forward and propelling it rapidly ahead is more likely to overturn it than would be the case were it propelled either sidewise or backward.

It is of great advantage that the seat 0 should be elastically connected to the bodyring B, and that the latter should be rigidly supported by the base. WVith this construction the infant is enabled to jump himself up and down by simply pressing upon the rigid body-ring, and thereby lifting his weight off the seat O and permitting the latter to rise, whereupon by letting go of the body-ring B he can again throw his full weight on the seat 0, thereby depressing it. In this way the baby can bounce himself up and down at will.

As in devices heretofore constructed, the baby can, by pushing the seat C rearwardly, bring his feet to the floor, or, if desired, he can place them on the forward rung dot the base, using this rung as a foot-rest.

In order to reduce the shocks resulting from collision with other objects while the baby-tender is being propelled, we construct the guard-ring D of light and highly elastic material, so that as it collides with an object it will yield sufficiently to prevent injury to the child. This ring D also serves to prevent the child from propelling the baby-tender too closely to stoves and other articles of furniture from which it is desirable to keep it.

We prefer to apply the usual casters for the baby-tender to the under sides. of the rungs a a of the base, and to place them somewhat inside of the gua rd-ring G, so that they will be protected from injury in case of collision.

In placing a child in our improved babytender the childs body is lowered through the aperture in the body-ring 13 until the child sits upon the seat 0. The connections 0 c are then adjusted until the seat 0 is arranged at the proper height relatively to the body-ring B, whereupon the child may be left entirely to itself. 1

It will be understood that our invention can be modified in many respects Without departing from the essential features thereof,

and that we do not limit ourselves to the particular details of construction herein shown and described.

NVe claim the following-defined novel features and co mbinat-ions, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, namely:

1. In a baby-tender, the'combination, with a circular base, of a seat carried thereby and mounted eccentrieally thereon at a point back of the center of the base.

2. In a baby-tender, the combination, with the base, of abody-ring rigidly carried thereby, a seat suspended from said ring, and an elastic connection between said seat and ring, whereby the seat may be moved independently of the ring.

3. In a baby-tender, the combination, with the base, of a body-ring carried thereby, a seat suspended from said ring, and an adjustable connection between said ring and seat, whereby the latter can be adjusted relatively to the ring.

4. A baby-tender consisting of a base constructed of an elastic ring, rungs secured thereto and provided with casters, a bodyring supported by and rigidly connected to the base by legs projecting from said rungs, a seat, and adjustable elastic suspenders flexibly connected to the body-ring and seat for supporting the latter.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

MILO A. RICHARDSON. ROSELL L. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. FRASER, CHARLES K. FRASER. 

